To cloth diaper or not to cloth diaper?

Or...to CD or not to CD?

Yes, folks, there is a whole mommy-blogging, abbreviation-using, diaper-swapping (Yes! Really!) community of CD-ing moms out there. And I feel that if "unfriend" is now officially the Word of the Year (my God, it's a new societal low), then I should certainly at least attempt to use abbreviations, for pete's sake. And then I realized just how out of the loop I am when it comes to this whole Internet thing. Abbreviations are only the beginning.

So, in my attempts to sort out the plethora of options from FB to BG to RB (for those of us who use full words in our everyday vocabulary, that would be FuzziBunz, bumGenius, and Renegade Baby, respectively) I have come to a place where I am by turns amused, overwhelmed, and excited. Yes, that right. Excited. So Very Excited. Soakers and Prefolds and Inserts, Oh My.

This isn't exactly a place I ever pictured myself, sitting in front of my computer with umpteen tabs open in 5 different windows trying to sort out what could/might/won't work for us. I don't like laundry. I do basic things to save energy/the Earth, but I don't get super crazy about it. My main motivation is $$$. Cash. Moolah. Green. As a SAHM (yes, another! translation: stay at home mom)and a Dave Ramsey-er, I keep a tight reign on every penny that passes through our hands. And having only one income is definitely a challenge. So when I see $40 per month flying out the door, I get understandably anxious. The last time I purchased diapers, I began doing math in my head. Not only is this a Pastime In Which Emily Should Not Indulge Due To Her Poor Math Skillz, but it also left me with a Bad Feeling. A feeling of multiple children in Pampers = Do we eat this month? followed closely by We will never be debt free at this rate.

So, I calculated the initial investment...which if I choose more economical cloth diapers (like most things, there is a high and a low end) is not actually as much as I thought it could be. But, as I've said before, I like to know as much as I can about things. So it was on to the reviews. Of course, there are many stellar reviews for top of the line cloth diapering systems. But there are also wonderful reviews for two of the options I am considering.

bumGenius, which lies somewhere between middle-of-the-road and high-end has recently developed both a moderate and a super-economy line. I didn't find much to be thrilled about with Econobum, the lower of the two. But Flip piqued my interest. Flip is a One Size (OS) diaper system with a waterproof cover and microfiber one size inserts. Basically, a series of snaps takes the diaper through the growth of the child, and there are seams sewn into the inserts to fold them down to right length based on the size you have set the diaper. I knew I liked snaps (word is they last much longer than velcro), and these were apparently much more durable than the Econobum snap covers. I'm still on the fence about prefolds vs. inserts. I'm going to try both, as they each apparently have their merits and downfalls. But luckily, with almost all diaper systems, they are interchangeable. So, we will purchase one Flip and give it a trial run.

My second option is gDiapers. These are velcro and not a one size system, so I would have to purchase more covers as she grows (fortunately she'd already be in the M size - 14-28 lbs and still have quite a ways to go before moving to L), but they are cheaper than most other systems that are sized. They were designed to use flushable inserts, but those cost as much if not slightly more than disposables. Several users simply use prefolds or inserts and report that they work just as well, if not better. (gDiapers do make gCloth inserts, but those are much pricier than your standard prefolds, which is what they are anyway). These diapers have a soft cotton/poly cover, and a snap-in waterproof liner. Which I like. Fewer covers + more extremely affordable snap-ins = a happy budget. I will purchase one gDiaper as well.

So. There. Additionally I need a set of prefolds and a set of inserts for my trial run, both of which are affordable. My hunch is that I'll end up liking both for different reasons, and go with a combination of the two (apparently quite common amongst CD-ing moms no matter which systems they're using). Which would work out great, considering I'll have already purchased almost half of what I would need in total. I'm going to stick with disposable wipes for the time being, but may switch over to cloth if I decide that CDs are all I'll use from now on.

So, while we have another month or so until the trial run begins, after a tremendous amount of research, this is my plan. If the trial run goes well, then I am committing to at least 4 months of CD-ing, or the amount of time it would take to purchase diapers equal to the investment. Whether I like it or not. And while I don't like laundry, I like saving money a whole lot more.